The third week of the 2010 Florida Legislative Session brought Farm Bureau members to Tallahassee to discuss the issues with their legislators. And as we look toward the fourth week of the session, Ben Parks, director of state legislative affairs for the Florida Farm Bureau, says committees are still working on balancing the budget.
NRCS Chief Dave White chaired the national Agricultural Air Quality Task Force (AAQTF) meeting last week in Tallahassee, Florida. Also on hand to help support the chief were Elvis Graves, acting designated federal official and Carlos Suarez, state conservationist in Florida.
In 1996, Congress directed the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service to establish a task force to address air quality issues. This task force is comprised of USDA employees, industry representatives, and other experts in the fields of agriculture and air quality. The task force also advises the Secretary of Agriculture in providing oversight and coordination related to agricultural air quality. Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), a senior member of the Committee, announced they sent a letter to the President opposing budget cuts to farm programs in a tough economy. The letter was also signed by Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS), John Thune (R-SD), James Risch (R-ID), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and David Vitter (R-LA).
Gully Branch Tree Farm was the 2010 recipient of the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award for Agriculture. And owners/operators Earl and Wanda Barrs explain how they merged their love of forestry and education together to share their knowledge of conservation to hundreds of students every spring.
American Agriculture: Abundant, Affordable, Amazing. That’s the theme for Ag Awareness Week which culminates this Saturday, March 20th, with National Ag Day. And in the following two reports, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, celebrates those principles and the farmers that work tirelessly everyday to bring them to us.
Florida Farm Bureau played a big role in The American Farm Bureau Federation’s successful, six-month campaign to oppose cap-and-trade climate change legislation. And national affairs coordinator for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, Adam Basford, says the Don’t CAP Our Future campaign culminated last week when farmer and rancher members from across the country presented key lawmakers some of the 100,000 grassroots calls-to-action gathered in opposition to the issue.
Ocala, FL — Southeast AgNet Publications Inc. announced the acquisition of Florida Science Source Inc., a citrus book publishing and reseller operation. It bought the business from founder Will Wardowski and his wife Christie.
Wardowski is well known in citrus circles all over the world as a post-harvest expert. He was the first editor of Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st edition, published in New York in 1986. Known to citrus packers as “The Green Bible,” Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st and 2nd editions include more than 40 authors from around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced that a redbay ambrosia beetle, the vector of laurel wilt disease, has been found in an insect trap in the Emerald Lakes subdivision of Miami-Dade County. Prior to this find, the redbay ambrosia beetle had not been found south of Martin County. It is not known if all redbay ambrosia beetles carry the pathogenic strain of laurel wilt disease. Advanced diagnostic tests are underway to determine what strain the beetle trapped in Miami-Dade County carried.
This week’s Commissioner’s Spotlight from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson is about the importance of prescribed burning to the health of Florida’s forests and safety in our wildland/urban interfaces. More information is available on the Florida Division of Forestry web site by clicking on Prescribed Fire. To view or download a brochure on the topic, click on Prescribed Fire In the Wildland/ Urban Interface (PDF).
A planned bio-refinery located near Soperton, Georgia has received a loan guaranteed by USDA Rural Development to make cellulosic biofuel from wood chips.
The House Committee on Agriculture has approved H.R. 3954 for floor consideration. The bill would authorize the conveyance of 114 acres in Leon County, Florida and would allow the U.S. Forest Service to make equivalent land exchanges within the Ocala and Apalachicola National Forests to better and more efficiently manage the lands.
USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey predicts cooler than normal weather for much of the country, and wet conditions in the South during the period from March 9 to 15.
The budget is firmly in place as the main theme for this year, but Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, gives some insight on what other issues will be a priority for the Florida Department of Agriculture during 2010.
Would you like to donate an item to be auctioned off? Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff gives us information about this event and go to http://florida4h.org/foundation/auction.shtml for all of the details.
Jeff Helms, Communications Director for the Alabama Farmers Federation, says that they believe the Alabama Forever Wild Program funds could be better allocated towards conservation and farm land preservation efforts.
With Agriculture as Alabama’s top industry, Executive Director of the Alabama Agribusiness Council, Leigha Cauthen, says they are working to represent all aspects of agribusiness.
New technology must be developed because population growth is not slowing down. Everett Griner explains to us how many people will have to be fed in the near future.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson (w/ hat in photos) hosted numerous media outlets and about a hundred guests Tuesday at a bioenergy test project in Ocala. This process helps manage animal wastes while also producing energy and agricultural by-products. Sigarca, Inc.’s experiemental Bioenergy Plant is set up at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala, FL, where it processes horse manure into renewable energy, organic soil and bio-fertilizers. Read the rest of this entry »
There are new revelations this week about research flaws by the key UN climate change body. Mistakes that American Farm Bureau’s Rick Kraus says are serious enough that environmentalists could end up focusing more on the old question of proving that climate change is a threat, instead of the new question of how to stop it.
The third week of the 2010 Florida Legislative Session brought Farm Bureau members to Tallahassee to discuss the issues with their legislators. And as we look toward the fourth week of the session, Ben Parks, director of state legislative affairs for the Florida Farm Bureau, says committees are still working on balancing the budget.
NRCS Chief Dave White chaired the national Agricultural Air Quality Task Force (AAQTF) meeting last week in Tallahassee, Florida. Also on hand to help support the chief were Elvis Graves, acting designated federal official and Carlos Suarez, state conservationist in Florida.
Gully Branch Tree Farm was the 2010 recipient of the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award for Agriculture. And owners/operators Earl and Wanda Barrs explain how they merged their love of forestry and education together to share their knowledge of conservation to hundreds of students every spring.
Florida Farm Bureau played a big role in The American Farm Bureau Federation’s successful, six-month campaign to oppose cap-and-trade climate change legislation. And national affairs coordinator for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, Adam Basford, says the Don’t CAP Our Future campaign culminated last week when farmer and rancher members from across the country presented key lawmakers some of the 100,000 grassroots calls-to-action gathered in opposition to the issue.
Wardowski is well known in citrus circles all over the world as a post-harvest expert. He was the first editor of Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st edition, published in New York in 1986. Known to citrus packers as “The Green Bible,” Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st and 2nd editions include more than 40 authors from around the world. 
This week’s Commissioner’s Spotlight from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson is about the importance of prescribed burning to the health of Florida’s forests and safety in our wildland/urban interfaces. More information is available on the Florida Division of Forestry web site by clicking on 
Jeff Helms, Communications Director for the Alabama Farmers Federation, says that they believe the Alabama Forever Wild Program funds could be better allocated towards conservation and farm land preservation efforts.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson (w/ hat in photos) hosted numerous media 
outlets and about a hundred guests Tuesday at a bioenergy test project in Ocala. This process helps manage animal wastes while also producing energy and agricultural by-products. Sigarca, Inc.’s experiemental Bioenergy Plant is set up at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala, FL, where it processes horse manure into renewable energy, organic soil and bio-fertilizers. 
There are new revelations this week about research flaws by the key UN climate change body. Mistakes that American Farm Bureau’s Rick Kraus says are serious enough that environmentalists could end up focusing more on the old question of proving that climate change is a threat, instead of the new question of how to stop it.
